Owning a Mistake May Lead to Success

As Proven by Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians came back to beat the Texas Rangers thanks to a Grand Slam by Francisco Lindor in the top of the 9th inning. But what was more impressive is how Lindor handled his error in the 5th inning that could have cost his team the game. In this post-game interview he was asked about what happened on the play.

Francisco Lindor took 100% responsibility for the error and he felt terrible for letting his pitcher, Danny Salazar down. He didn’t show anyone up and he didn’t complain that his 1st baseman, Edward Encarnacion failed to catch his throw (in the 5th inning) that would have ended the inning. Instead, Lindor owned it. This is a young player (23 years old to be exact) and he is the one taking full responsibility for what took place.

In the top of the 6th inning, soon after Lindor’s error cost his team the lead, Lindor came up to bat. It was evident Lindor was still frustrated by his mistake and he used that to his advantage by hitting a home run to tie up the game. Lindor was going to stop at nothing to right his mistake.

In the top of the 9th inning, Lindor then came through for his team to another level—with a Grand Slam, giving the Cleveland Indians a 9-6 lead. In the postgame, Lindor still felt horrible about his pitcher not qualifying for the win. Lindor isn’t done making up for his error—he will use this as motivation the rest of the season. It’s possible this error could be the best thing for him. And truthfully, if Encarnacion had caught that throw from Lindor in the bottom of the 5th inning, the error never would have happened. But Lindor is choosing not to go down that path. And neither should we in business…

We can all learn from Lindor. In business, mistakes will be made—it’s a guarantee! You can blame your co-workers, your employee, your boss or you can own it. You can take responsibility and be better for it. And who knows, maybe you can use the mistake of letting your company down as motivation to do something awesome—like Francisco Lindor did with his game winning Grand Slam.